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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Marine Sgt. Brian McGinnis
Died March 30, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
23, of St. Georges, Del.; assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 39, Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed in a helicopter crash in southern Iraq.
McGinnis’ high-school wrestling coach tried to persuade him to attend college, but the young man had other plans.
“He said the Marines were the best, and that’s what he wanted to be a part of. He welcomed the challenge,” said Jack Holloway, who coached McGinnis at William Penn High School in New Castle.
It was there that McGinnis met Megan Mahoney, whom he married in 1999.
McGinnis died March 30 when a Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed at a supply and refueling point in southern Iraq. Enemy fire wasn’t involved, the military said.
At the Woodbury Heights, N.J., home of McGinnis’ father, William McGinnis, a friend said the family wanted privacy.
A sign in the front yard had a picture of the young man in uniform and read: “In loving memory of Sgt. Brian McGinnis, who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
— Associated Press